July 2009

July 31, 2009

We saw Bum Phillips walking along the sidelines this afternoon. I can never see the elder Phillips without thinking of those great blue and white jerseys, and Earl Campbell barreling through someone (or someones as the case usually was).

Wade Phillips was a happy man today after practice. So here are some of this thoughts on Day 3:

On a "lighter" Marcus Spears: "He’s really quick off the ball this year, even quicker than he has been. And getting his weight down a little more has helped him. We’ve allowed him to slant a little bit more than he did, certain techniques, he’ll get up the field a little bit quicker than before because he is able to do that. That’s the way we coach."

On birthday boy DeMarcus Ware's HOF potential: "I was looking at him, he is bigger than he was. His body has matured some. Happy birthday to him, his birthday is today, which we celebrated by letting him practice. I didn’t give him the day off. His body’s maturing, you know. I looked at him and I thought, boy, he looks like Lawrence Taylor. He looks like that mature. And then I thought, well, I don’t know if Lawrence Taylor ever had 20 ½ sacks."

On Jason Williams' progress: "He was a little slow reacting yesterday. I went over and worked with him a little bit, talked to him a little bit. I said, 'Why are you reacting so slow?' He said, 'I’m thinking about so many things, coach.' That’s what happens with rookies. Sometimes it’s not going to be just like that. We keep progressing. We keep putting more things in every practice. It takes a while for those guys to settle in. once they know what they’re doing then they can react faster so he’s working through that right now."

Wide receiver Jesse Holley was the picture of optimism on Friday, three days into the Cowboys training camp where the experience has him thinking good thoughts.

"I'm extremely confident in my abilities," Holley said. "Somebody said I was living the dream and I said, 'You're absolutely right.' I don't want to wake up just yet."

I asked Holley about some bracelets he had on each wrist. The one on his left wrist had little letters on them that spelled "Holleywood," while the one on his right spelled "Mind over matter." He said a friend of his from New Jersey made them for him to wear and keep him positive.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ vision for Cowboys Stadium included multiple decks he dubbed “party decks” that overlook the playing field and outdoor plazas that will essentially be used for standing-room-only tickets that the club is calling a Party Pass and selling for $29, one of the least expensive tickets in the NFL.

Jones said the team can sell up to 30,000 for big games which would push capacity well over 100,000.

“The stadium was designed to accommodate fans who just want to be a part of the game atmosphere,” Jones said. “That’s why we created decks that open to the field in place of seats. More fans can be at the stadium, and although they won’t all have a seat, they will definitely be a part of the action and experience on game day.”

Party Pass tickets for the first two preseason games, the regular-season home opener on Sept. 20 against the Giants, as well as the Monday night game against the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 29, will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Monday. If you're in San Antonio this weekend for training camp, you can be one of the first to purchase the pass. Otherwise, tickets can be purchased through TicketMaster by phone at 1-800-745-3000, at local Ticketmaster outlets or online at ticketmaster.com.

I'm watching it right now and it's been pretty entertaining. Some pretty long passes with even prettier catches.

Roy Williams just caught a tip-toe catch along the sidelines, which got a round of applause from the crowd and Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, who was standing at the 50-yard line.

Irving and Williams chatted a little bit near mid-field, too.

"It’s the second day for us to talk and he’s giving me some advice, some pointers that I’m taking to heart, and I’m learning some things from him," Williams said. "Even though he played back in the day, football’s the same. You still run and catch."